Give Me A Reason
by Ultrawoman
Summary: One-Shot. Alternate ending to 2x16 There's The Door. Nico just wanted Dani to give him a reason to stay.


**A/N: As some of you will know, I am a rare UK fan of Necessary Roughness, and since it doesn't actually air over here, I wait for the dvds to see the whole season. This means I only recently got done with Season 2, and this scene just wouldn't get out of my head when I was done. It demanded to be written, and now, it demands to be posted. Would love your opinions, reader peops! :)**

_**(Disclaimer: All recognisable characters from Necessary Roughness belong to other folks that aren't me.)**_

Give Me A Reason

It was strange to leave after so long, but Nico Careles no longer had a reason to stay. The Pittman family had fallen apart. Marshall was dead, Gabrielle long gone, and Juliette taking on adventures of her own that he could no longer be a part of. The Hawks could do without him now, nobody here would really miss him. Maybe that wouldn't hurt so much if that set of people didn't include one woman in particular. Shaking his head at his own sentimental thoughts, Nico turned away from the stadium and headed back to the car. The smile that had seemed long gone suddenly returned to his lips as he slipped into the driver's side.

"Dr. Santino," he greeted her, before ever turning to meet her eyes.

She looked just a little put out that he had known she was there. He pulled this trick on her a hundred times, appearing in her car when she least expected it and making her jump. It was just too much fun not to continue when she made such a big deal about him not doing it anymore. One more thing to miss when he was gone from here.

"You just cannot be startled, can you?" she complained, folding her arms across her chest as if mad at him, and yet her beautiful smile remained.

"Part of the job" Nico shrugged, leaning back a little in the driver's seat.

"The old job?" asked Dani curiously, "Or the new one far, far away?" she checked, making some vague gesture for a long distance that Nico saw out of the corner of his eye.

Looking at her would just be too hard right now.

"Why are you here, Dani?" he replied, knowing her own question was only filler anyway.

She had to have a reason for appearing in his car, tonight of all nights. He gave her the chance before to ask him to stay and she hadn't. The best she could come up with on the spot was that the team would miss him. That just wasn't enough for Nico, not after everything that had happened.

"Honestly?" Dani sighed as Nico turned to look at her at last. "I don't know," she shrugged.

"That's interesting," he smirked annoyingly at that. "Aren't you the one that told me that 'I don't know' means..."

"I don't wanna tell you. Yes, I did," she huffed like he was the most aggravating person ever for saying it. "When'd you get so smart anyway?"

He raised an eyebrow at that comment, waiting for her still to answer his original question about why she was here. She had to have a reason and he needed to hear it now or not at all. He meant what he said about leaving. Nico didn't make empty threats. He was going because there was no reason for him to stay anymore, and Dani had not been quick to correct him on that point. He hardly dare hope she was here now because she realised her mistake.

Seeing her with Matt at the game had been painful. The moment he saw the couple kissing, he just had to turn away. Nico knew Donnelly was probably a better choice for a woman like Dani, but that didn't mean he had to like it, or bear witness to the reboot of their relationship.

"So, I got to thinking about what you said," Dani began eventually, looking out of the windshield more than actually at the guy she was talking to. "And about things that have been happening lately with Ray Jay leaving home, and Matt..." she trailed off, feeling wrong for even mentioning his name.

Dani hated this. She hated being so messed up like she had been for weeks now, caught between two men she told herself she shouldn't want, and definitely shouldn't have. Eventually she convinced herself that if she loved Matt she should just go for it already, and yet there was Nico too. Now he was leaving, no longer there to have her back, to be that rock she needed, that mysterious force in her life that she had come to know and love far too easily...

"I suddenly realised that I'd miss you... a lot," she confirmed strongly, though her voice faded to almost nothing when she turned to look Nico's way and found him already staring at her with that intense gaze of his. "If you left, I'd miss you more than I ever thought possible."

"Dani..." he began to interrupt, but she knew she had to get all of this out before her nerves failed her again.

This was her one shot, a second chance she was lucky to even have, and she was not going to screw it up, not now.

"And I don't know what that means exactly," she admitted, immediately calling herself a liar inside her head and wincing at the realisation. "Or maybe I really do... but I'm afraid to face it." she confessed, meeting his eyes, leaning in closer.

Nico couldn't believe what he was hearing. This is what he secretly hoped for when he talked to Dani at the Santino house the night before. He told her he had no reason to stick around, and a corner of his heart actually held onto the hope that she would give him that reason, but she hadn't done so. She was getting back together with Matt, he was sure of it, and yet here she was, looking at him in such a way as to drive a man crazy.

"What about Donnelley?" he asked, knowing it had to be said, even if it was the last topic of conversation he wanted to hit on right now.

There was no choice. This was like the double or bust part of a relationship that had been simmering on the back burner too long. Nico had to stay because Dani wanted to be with him, or he had to walk away and be done. Everything came down to what she said next, and the first three words damn near broke his heart.

"I love Matt," Dani had to confess. "I know I do, but as tough as it was to realise I might've lost him," she continued, a glimmer of hope showing through the dark as Nico met her eyes again, "Nico, it hurts twice as bad to know I might lose you."

It was all the encouragement he needed, and the only words he really wanted to hear in the absence of three others that were a long shot anyway right now. His hand reached out to pull her head closer and then he was kissing her, just like that night on her porch. He told her before that while she probably kissed him because she needed to, he had definitely kissed her because he wanted to. Dani Santino was like no other woman Nico ever met, and he had come to realise, what seemed like too late, that he had fallen completely in love with her.

"I'm sorry I didn't realise sooner," Dani said softly as they parted from their kiss, but still remained close.

"You cut it pretty close," he smirked back at her, "but one thing I've always know from the start, Dani Santino always comes through in the end."

She smiled at that, even laughed a little, but was serious again in a moment when she realised he was going to kiss her again. It felt a little like being a teenager, some kind of elicit meeting in a guy's car outside a football stadium, but Dani couldn't care. She loved this man, she knew that now, as scary as it seemed. Though she and Matt seemed doomed, she had clung to her affection for him, thinking at least he was safe while Nico was the mysterious, dangerous option. Over the past few weeks she had realised more strongly than ever that in fact he was her safety, the guy she called in a crisis, the one who always showed up when she needed him most. Letting him walk away would make her a fool, when all she needed to do was what he asked, just give him a reason to stay. Now she had and they had a chance to make something work here. Somehow, Dani couldn't see herself having any regrets about that.

The End

**A/N2: Okay, so does anyone remember my multiple chapter fic 'Taking Care', which I started last August and completed this February? I basically rewrote Season 1 to a DaNico happy ending. Some readers wanted a sequel, and I do now have ideas for rewriting Season 2, beginning with established DaNico. Would anyone want to read that? Please let me know by review when you tell me what you think of this one shot, or by PM if you prefer. Thanks! :) **


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